Some of this is a recap from the previous session but time has flown and I wanted to bring you up to date on stuff and some things might be repeats I just can’t remember…….
Shenyang
Shenyang is a city of super-contrasts. It is a venue for the Olympics and they have built a brand-new soccer stadium but downtown where the Poly Theater and Hotel are located it is quite old and somewhat falling apart. I have noticed that in China the government or the builders have put in beautiful new facilities but seem to forget to allow for maintenance. Buildings that were very new already showed signs of wear that a little TLC could have fixed.
While in Shenyang our hotel clearly was the least well kept. The rooms were small and did not fit most of our standards of cleanliness. The really fabulous part, however, was the fact that my hotel room was directly over my makeup workroom. In order to get to my room I just walked up the theater stairs one floor (past the sign that said “no performers” –literally!) and onto the next floor and down the hall. The view from both rooms was exactly alike. When we went to load out I could hear all the trucks (all – yes 5 of them!) and their drivers as they left. When we arrived the “key man” and I had a confrontation via our interpreter (what a valiant girl she is) about keeping the rooms open. He told her that he really wasn’t supposed to open any of the doors. Once I got him to agree to leave the doors we needed unlocked that evening so we could unload, apparently Les had a running argument with the “powers that be” about keeping doors open for the rest of the stay. Shenyang also has trouble with its plumbing system – or the hotel does because at about 10:00 pm the water appears to shut off completely. Some of the dancers and staff were caught in the shower with soapy hair and bodies but no water. This was also a theater with no laundry facilities or a place where Val could hook up her portable washer. This was worrisome because while Val has doubles of all tights and many of the leotards, we travel from one city to the next with only one clean set of laundry. Once she gets to the next city she spends the load-in day washing everything from the city before so that she will have clean laundry for the dancers the next performance. So Val couldn’t hook up anything and there did not appear to be any person in charge who had a way out of the situation. Fortunately, the goddess of laundry took pity on Val – she noticed one of the stage crew carefully and minutely examining the costumes and she asked him what he was doing. It turned out that he had worked wardrobe for theater companies for ten years and he was looking at the way things were built. Val nabbed him from the stage crew and the next morning she and her assistant took all the laundry upstairs to her hotel room and washed it all in the bathtub and sink. Where there’s a will – there’s a way! Or as I like to say, “Where there’s a will there’s a B!” (As in always having a plan B if plan A doesn’t work out.) Anyway, we got the dancers ready and as usual stage crew worked themselves to a standstill trying to get everything in place in time. It was a rough show technically but our dancers rose to the challenge and the audience loved it. It was like a rock concert – the people were eating, drinking, talking on their phones, taking pictures and generally raising a ruckus. So unlike what we were used to and the theater was pretty full to boot! They really loved the show. After the show we did go to one of the crew rooms to celebrate – unfortunately no one had had much time to shop so we were just eating leftovers but Mike had managed to buy some “Purple Corn wine” and we had a blast reading the label. Reading labels and signs in China got to be quite entertaining. Apparently this particular wine was “particularly good if drunk with canned pork.” Really! The next night was just as crazy and then the inevitable craziness of load-out. We managed to stay on target but then found that instead of the 2 big huge truck/trailers that the Poly people sent us 4 smaller trucks and a pickup. I really didn’t believe it would all get packed! I totally doubted Richard and the guys but, wow, they managed. The next morning we loaded up the gang and headed back to Shenyang airport (one hour) to fly to Shanghai airport (2 hours) to be bused to Ningbo (3 hours). Going through Shenyang airport this time we discovered that they had built a brand new airport – the only one we had seen coming in was the abandoned one across the airfield. Anyway, the ladies and gents of the plane had (as usual) wonderful snacks and lunch for us and away we flew. At the Shanghai airport (have I mentioned it totally reminded me of the Honolulu airport???) we exited the airport (who leads the parade I wondered?) and headed for the baggage claim and then to the buses. Oops – Poly missed it again…..the buses were on the OTHER side of the airport and apparently the only way to reach them was via a small elevator that only took 3 people and luggage at a time. Another huge waste of time. And, did I mention it was raining….. again? Anyway, we left the airport and headed for Ningbo. By this time everyone was a little tired (well, more than a little) and cranky and worried about the state of our next hotel. Rumor had it that it was worse than Shenyang….. (In Shenyang, apparently one dancer spilled some tea in her hotel room, used her towel to clean it up and they made her buy the towel (15 RMB –about $2) because they said it was too stained. This from a hotel where the towels were dingy to begin with! Another dancer was called at 1:30 am in her hotel room by the hotel staff demanding to know where her bath towel was—she replied it was in her dressing room in the theater. They demanded that she return it or she would have to pay for it!
One positive and fun thing about Shenyang was a hike that Maggie and I took to find a t-sheet/jersey she was looking for as a gift for her husband. Carol had told her of a shopping area “a few blocks away” and gave her directions. Well, in Shenyang there appears to be more than one “temple on the street with golden dragons to the right on the next block”… after walking in a very scary area for a while she called Carol again and got better directions… off we hiked some more! Eventually we ended up on this long, long block of shopping arcade where the cars have been blocked off and you walk up and down to shop. It was really fun (except that part of the street was torn up right in the middle). It was funny because at each end of the arcade there was a McDonalds and a KFC and another KFC in the middle. Apparently, Shenyang-ian’s love their KFC. We ended up eating in a Yoshinoya and Maggie got to use her “what meat is this” set of questions from her last Chinese lesson. We decided to cab it back to the theater because, frankly, I refused to walk another step! Fortunately, we did find the store she was looking for and they did have one jersey like she wanted – but only one. Most of the stores don’t carry a lot of merchandise on hand. I don’t know how they stay in business actually.
Ningbo
Ningbo is our last stop. It is located nearer the coast where three rivers come together as one. It has a long history and is only about 3 hours from Shanghai. Once we got on the buses we traveled pretty smoothly and got to travel over the brand new causeway that crossed the area. It has only been open about 6 months I think and was very, very beautiful. I understand it is the second largest causeway in the world. Unfortunately for the sets – trucks are not allowed on it so the sets had to go the long way around, a 9 hour trip. As we had been delayed and delayed, we did not get to Ningbo til around 7:00 p.m. The hotel (WOW!) is called the “S&N Hotel” which means “Smile & Natural.” It is only a couple of years old and, again, WOW! Our rooms were gorgeous. The hotel is huge but for the first time I was on the same floor and, in fact, next door to Maggie and Val and Carol and Mike and others were across the hall. We all raced downstairs to enjoy their evening buffet. It cost 98 RMG (around $13) but boy was it terrific. All of this boded well for breakfast the next morning. We, the crew, decided to go over to the theater (its about 15 minutes away) as we were told they were waiting for us to come and show us around. Well, no bus was there so our Poly girl, Tina, got us cabs to go over. Once we got there we knew that the sets and equipment would not be there until at least 8:00 am since the airport had delayed the permission to unload the plane. There wasn’t much we could do so Val, Maggie, Les and I begged Tina and our translator to get us a cab back to the hotel. For once I decided to sleep in and not take the 7:45 am bus to the theater but waited for the 10:30 am dancer bus. What was I thinking! Imagine my shock when I got to the theater, found Wilbur (my road box is “some pig,” spacewise) and opened it to pull it into my dressing room. Somewhere between 8:00 am and 10:30 am someone had opened it and stolen 2 blond wigs. !!! Shock!! Horror!! Disbelief!!! I went over the box thoroughly, called Maggie over, she went over it, I called Dennis over and pretty much started hyperventilating right then and there. Fortunately, Robin had sent 5 swing wigs and the only 2 that were taken were blonds. I called Catherine and Tiffany for a fitting and we were up and running. I only thanked the benevolent goddess that they had not taken Karen’s brunette wig! Or either of the decrepit princesses – stuff that would have been hard to replace. Anyway, I unloaded and set up and was ready to go back to the hotel when I discovered that my crew had been called to come to the theater a day early. So I went ahead and started wigging-101 and got to know my new girls.
These girls came from a local theatrical makeup school and their teacher, Ms. Wang, even came with them to watch. I couldn’t ever figure out if it was a state university or a private school but Ms. Wang and I had a fun conversation after class was done via our translator. Apparently there is no licensing of hair dressers in China but they do have to be “registered” or something like that. The girls are hoping to be makeup artists when they graduate and there is a growing amount of theater and movie making going on so I wish them well. This was really the first time they got to work in a real theater doing real stuff – even if it was with “fake hair.” “To Fa” is Chinese for hair and they don’t have a real word for “wig” or “wigcap.” They were really nice girls. In fact, all my “girls” were lovely – smart, quick and observant. Carol and I laughed because I always had “my girls” and she had “her boys.”
I think the biggest drawback of the Chinese people today is that they still have difficulty thinking on their feet or outside the box. I imagine this is from centuries of different types of repression. I believe that in another 10-15 years they will start to be more adept at creative thinking. So often I could see that they are given a task and no real options on doing anything other than that specific task – the key guy in Shenyang wasn’t allowed to open doors, even when faced with the need to actually use the rooms – floor and room cleaners re-clean the same area they are assigned all day long, over and over, even if no one had been through the area -- food servers stay close and can’t seem to walk away while you are thinking about what to order --or retail clerks follow you around the store – that’s what they are hired to do, that’s what they do. They also don’t like to work alone. They would tend to “swarm” and work in pairs or trios instead. I would have to physically move one girl off one dancer and over to another.
The first performance in Ningbo was not as much fun for me since it was a “black box” show but the next night was the final performance of Firebird. I had Maria and Ali and Karen and Max (and any others I could rope into it) sign my pair of “dead firebird shoes” that I got from Maggie for my office. They hang over my desk and I really enjoy having them as a bright reminder.
After the last show, I cleaned the laces on the wigs for the trip home, packed up and loaded out for the last time, not a little bit sad that it was over. It has been an amazing journey. I can’t keep saying that enough. I learned so much about myself and what I can and am willing to do. What my comfort zone is -- of being brave and where I draw the line. I certainly hope and wish that I get to do it again! Six weeks was a very long time for me but it was eye opening.
We headed back to the Shanghai airport the next day and boarded the plane for the last leg. As always, the flight crew had food, wine, drinks, snacks and presents on board. At our seats was a lovely bottle of wind in a silk wine bag as a gift from the dancers to the crew. Very thoughtful. We had 2 types of celebration cake – it was Beth Ann’s birthday (no fair, she got to have a 36 hour birthday!) and Willie Anderson’s send-off/retirement cake. We will miss Willie’s great talent and kind heart next year – I know I will. He always has such a kind word and gentle hug.
The trip home was quite and fortunately uneventful. I tried to sleep and watched a couple of movies I had never seen (Juno and Knocked Up) and one I had seen only once (August Rush) – it seemed to be my night for unplanned pregnancy movies! Sleep came with the help of Harry Potter in my ear as always and the time seemed to “fly” by. (You know I had to make that joke at least once on this trip!)
I called Tim from the airport as we landed and surprised him because I had gotten my AM and PM mixed up. I thought we would be landing at 12:30 am but we got there 12 hours earlier. He was waiting with Starbucks ice tea and my favorite cookie. But he looked better to me than either cookie or cold drink! Once I got home, he dragged my stuff upstairs and unpacked my suitcases while I talked nonstop and then went to sleep.
All in all I’m glad to be home. I still find myself thinking I must have imagined the whole thing and that it wasn’t real but it was and I have tons of great memories to think of. Let’s hope they decided to do it again and I get the opportunity to go. Thanks again, Robin!!!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
shen--where???
Sunday, June 15, Monday June 16, Tuesday, June 17, Wednesday June 18
Days 29-32, I think..
So, finishing up in Beijing… On Saturday we had a photocall and I had not planned on attending but was there anyway… it was a good thing since Erena needed her fall for Serenade pictures. This was the first time I put it on her and as you can see from the picture, she looked gorgeous. I was very pleased and she was too.
Did I mention that one of the nights in Beijing after the show we went to Hooters? It was a lot of fun but the cab in which Carol, Craig and I were riding got stuck on a small side street that was totally filled from end to end with empty taxi cabs. Apparently the street is nothing but small bar after small bar and the driver insisted we get out and that Hoosters was “close by” .. Carol navigated by the seat of her pants and said, “Humm… I think it is THIS way and marched off, with Craig and I right behind like ducks in a row. We walked to Hooters and did find it about 3 long blocks away. Everyone else was already there and had ordered… apparently their taxi drivers took a different route.
After our Saturday night performance we had load-out as usual. All the departments are getting pretty fast at load-out and we were on course for our best time ever UNTIL we found out that the city doesn’t allow certain size trucks in until after 11:30 pm and we had to wait for them. We were done by 10:30 but couldn’t load the trucks til at least 11:30. When the trucks came we were surprised that one of them was a refrigerated meat truck.... complete with meat hooks. Everyone’s first comment was “thank goodness hair and wardrobe were already on the first truck! Who wants their costumes to smell like meat?” Ugh.
Anyway, finished loading the stuff out and went for a drink in the hotel tea garden… the hotel bar was way too expensive. We had a great time with a few beers (I drank tea) and then to bed. We did get a little silly (but not snockered…cuz it was only a couple of beers) and decided to circle-stab each other in the neck with a chopstick to put us all out of our “misery.” It was sort of funny that Craig wanted another beer and they were out of SingTao and asked if they could bring “another kind” .. he said yes so they brought him “alcohol-free beer” .. she just didn’t understand the difference between the 2 types of beer.
Sunday was a free day and about 13 of us had decided not to join in Sylvia Young’s tour which included a trip to the wall, Forbidden City and lunch but to put together our own day. We left at 11:00 am for the Great Wall section of Mutianyu. They were going to the Badalong Section. It was a small bus and only the 13 of us were on it so it was very private and fun. Also quite cheap… 200 RMB (under $30) for transportation and then we had to pay to enter the Wall, another 55 RMB (the current rate is $1 to 7 RMB) so under $10 and it included a ski lift to the top and a toboggan run back down. (Very very fun!) Apparently there is no ski lift or toboggan at Badalog. After we walked along the wall – which is truly amazing – we had a little picnic lunch at the top and came back down. There were some sellers .. kind of like a street of cheap stalls.. and I practiced haggling and bought a couple of small items. Very brave for me.
One the way back we had a choice of stopping at a silk factory or a Chinese holistic health center for a free foot massage. Val and I had talked about going shopping so when we got there we took a cab back to the hotel and then a cab to a place called the Silk Market. It was 6 floors of nothing but stuff. It should have been called “Haggle City.” The sellers constantly accost you and if you indicate even the smallest interest in their goods, they are on you. It is very hard to say no but I found that if I walked away and said no enough I could usually get my price instead of theirs but I doubt I got the better of anyone. However, it was enough that I could get the price down. They would start at about 30 times its value and drop down and down … I would counter with practically nothing and go up a little at a time. All in all, I had fun but it was very exhausting. Val was with me and while I was talking to one seller, she was waiting and chatting with some others who told her “I was very good.” Probably mere flattery but it still feels pretty good.
After shopping and spending at least a week’s per diem (my daily pay for meals and incidentals) Val and I joined up with Mike Perry, one of our carpenters and went to dinner in a nearby Thai restaurant. I told Mike we had to be careful about spiciness and he ordered and the food was great. Spent the evening just talking and a little bitching but it was good to be able to express concerns that I had which apparently were similar to everyone else’s. Very enlightening.
On Monday we had a travel day from Beijing to Shenyang. We had to be up for baggage call at 8:00 am (we told one dancer 7:30 in jest) and everyone was on time but one of our massage therapists (we travel with 3). We got underway and drove back to the Tianjin (I think) airport and our great plane. As always, the flight crew had amazing snacks and lunch.. it was only supposed to be a 90 minute flight but we still had cocktails (margaritas and chips and salsa… how they pulled that off I sure don’t know) and a choice of Peking Duck or peppered steak for lunch.
We landed in the Shenyang airport and were bussed on an airport transpo shuttle to a side road in the middle of nowhere and put on 2 buses (instead of 3) and a luggage bus. One of the dancers called it the Redwood Terminal. Then we drove into Shenyang. Some of the crew guys said the actual airport looked like it was very run down and falling apart but I didn’t get a chance to see that. Anyway, there we were in nowhere waiting for the drivers to get into town. Everyone was getting tired and cranky. It got worse. When we finally got to the hotel, the bus got stuck in traffic and everyone just got off and walked over and into the hotel.
This hotel put most of the crew on one floor and we all went up to our rooms to drop off our stuff and begin load in. We only had about 24 hours (really only about 12 or so working hours) to get everything hung and lit for a performance on Tuesday. Well the 6th floor of this hotel was amazingly awful. The halls were dirty and the carpets stained. The paint and wall paper were peeling and it smelled. The bathrooms were dirty and the towels grimy and yucky. We all went down and reported it and Dennis immediately had them move us into better rooms. It looks like the hotel has been undergoing renovation a floor at a time and hadn’t done the 6th yet… although the 5th isn’t a whole lot better. Which is where most of the crew are. I’m lucky and on the 3rd, one of the best ones.
So we went into the theater without a lot of great expectations. And we were right. Apparently their rigging is different as is their lighting and many technical aspects that I don’t understand very well. Carol and the guys went right to work trying to “make it work.” I can only say, they are all amazing. How they manage with few interpreters and unknown theaters and situations and still pull off a show is beyond anything I could expect. I spent my time trying to get the dressing rooms open as the “key guy” kept saying he couldn’t open them. I finally got him to tell me that he really didn’t have the authority to open any of the rooms when he did open them. Apparently the Chinese have a mania about locking dressing room doors --- odd however, since not once did anyone ask me for my badge or who I was the entire time… anyone could have walked in… so once we did see the rooms they were also not clean enough for our tolerant standards. We got Tina, the Poly girl, to talk them into sending another cleaning crew the next morning before the dancers come in. I had already used my wig cleaning alcohol to clean my counters and mirrors before I would set out my stuff to work on.
More later….
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
ShenZhow to Beijing
Monday June 9, Tuesday June 10, Wednesday June 11, Thursday June 12, Friday June 13, Saturday June 14
Days 23-28
Well it is now Thursday and we are in BeiJing (Bei Jing? Beijing? … I don’t know which is correct). On Monday we finished getting ready for the Mendelsson/Firebird show and it went pretty well. My 4 girls showed up, all were university students, 2 were in computers and 2 in accounting. None had any hair experience, naturally. But all of them had some English which was a plus. I managed to teach the wigging class and then sent them off for dinner and told them to be back at 7:30.
The food in the canteen inside the theater is where we had to eat. The theater is about a 10 minute bus ride from the hotel. Anyway, the theater is lovely and very, very big and new. However, trying to get a meal is always a chancy prospect. I can’t recall if I told you about the nice Chinese buffet we had for lunch but apparently they didn’t realize we would be eating dinner there too. They tried to serve us the leftovers from lunch and when we finally managed to get our request across, they brought us a menu. Only downside was when we would point to something, he would say they didn’t have it. This began to get quite comical. Anyway, getting a meal is rather interesting. You have to be persistent. Oh, and it seems they can only make one meal at a time… you order together and person #1 gets food and a while later person #2 etc. If you want to wait to eat together as is normal at home, you would have cold food. So we just start eating. I think it is because in regular Chinese restaurants you order a bunch of items and they start bringing them out as they are completed and you eat family style in stages. They just haven’t gotten the knack of whole meals of separate items per diner.
On Tuesday I got up and took the 10:30 am dancer bus to go and get the hair ready and then had a little lunch and read a book until time to start on the show. Then load out, again. My girls performed great. That night I had the sweetest compliment. One of the Poly Theater representatives, Tina, asked me on the first day she was there if she could give me a Chinese name. She said my eyes (which are blue) look like the moon and could she name me “Moon” --- it sounds like Yu-Yure and when she pronounces it, it sounds very nice. Apparently in written script 2 moon symbols together equal “friend” so it has a double meaning. I was quite delighted. Anyway, that night two of the girls told me they did not have an English name (the other 2 girls did) and would I please give them an English name. I was extremely flattered and told them so. I suggested “Lilly” and “Rose” and since one of the dancers had some flowers, I showed them what Lilly and Rose meant. I think they were pleased. I know I was certainly tickled…Lilly and Rose are characters from Secret Garden but I didn’t bother to explain that to them, they just looked like lovely flowers.
Load out went fine until Woody realized one of the trucks was too narrow to hold the set and they had to pull it out and break it down. Then the Chinese drivers were going to drive it the 25 hours to Beijing. Each load out is like a Chinese puzzle trying to get all the pieces into the 2 trucks (which are usually of extremely old vintage and look pretty battered) and so far (my fingers are crossed…) each one has gone great.
Because the set wasn’t to get to Beijing until Thursday, we had Wednesday as a free day. Many dancers and crew hopped a cab to a local temple and cruised around the city. I, however, spent the whole day in bed, reading a book and watching tv. I think I may have become addicted to Chinese commercials. They are great to watch, very entertaining.
That night we were invited to a company party along the Yank see River which was very fun. It was quite relaxing and the food was good… except for the chicken heads decorating the chicken dishes… The best part was you could walk to the river’s edge and buy a paper lantern, light it and send it up in the air with a wish. The local guys who were there really helped us understand how to get ours to light up properly. It was a lovely evening, not too hot or cold or windy … so the lanterns just lazily rose up in the air over the river. It as very peaceful to watch. I finally got to bed around 2 am but I understand some folks didn’t see their rooms until about 5. Then we had to be up for luggage call at 9:00 am. Needless to say, some of the peeps on the bus were pretty sleepy.
Today was a travel day. It took us about 2 hours to get back to the airport and get on the plane. Had a PBJ as part of my lunch and it tasted great. The flight to Beijing took about 2 hours but we didn’t land at the main airport. I don’t know why…. So took another bus (3 hours or so) into town. We are now at the Poly Hotel and Theater and I have to go downstairs (yes, the theater is actually in the hotel) to start load-in and maintenance. No rest for the wicked I guess.
The dressing rooms are a bit confusing but at least I have all the 8 maidens (my “ba gur”) in one room right next to me… and as usual I have the 2 little local girls who are our pages for finale in my room. After settling in we finally called it a day and went back upstairs. My room is pretty nice, it has a window which overlooks the roof of the theater. Not too exciting but after ShenZhen and the bat cave, I’m grateful for anything. The shower is hot and the bed is … well never comfortable (nothing matches mine at home..) big.
On Friday I went downstairs for breakfast (this one is as nice as Shanghai) and over to the theater to begin maintenance. That usually takes about 3 hours or more. My “girls” showed up around 1:30 pm and this time they are “ladies” not college students as they usually are. Once the ladies understood what they were to do, they got very excited sand enthusiastic. We have noticed that the helpers seem to want to help so much they tend to swarm over anyone who needs help, in spite of the fact that only one of them is assigned to help that person. They are amazingly helpful and cheerful.
Side note… It is always a question as to how many crew will show up… apparently the Poly people have a hard time understanding that hair and wardrobe departments are separate.. they seem to think that anything relating to “dressing” is one department. However, I think I got it sorted out, finally.
So with my ladies it was on to Wigging-101 …pincurl training… and unfortunately Dennis Nahat (the big cheese) and John, the company photographer strolled by while the ladies were practicing pincurling and wigging on me. Dennis looked confused and I told him it was “wigging-101” which is the training I have to do in each city as no one ever has any hair experience. He seemed surprised and delighted … He immediately told John to take pictures of the process. Oh dear—and of course I looked, um, less than my best. My only hope is that the pictures will be so boring that no one will ever look at them.
So once the training was done, I released my crew until showtime. We were scheduled for a performance of Mendelssohn Symphony (a non-hair show) and Firebird. Each performance that includes Firebird consists of me presetting stuff and then wigging Karen before half hour and then doing the Firebird makeup at half hour and Maximo as the bad guy at either curtain if it is a Mendelssohn night or half way through Serenade because Max has to dance in the first portion. Getting Max done is a big project… he gets a bald cap, a nose appliance, a chin appliance and green makeup. At the beginning it took us (max helps) about 45 minutes to do it, but we’ve gotten it down to about 25 now. Anyway, while I was most of the way through Max’s makeup, John came in to photograph and film him getting made up. It was difficult finishing his makeup with a camera at my hip. Anyway, it went ok.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Wuhan and the Mall
Friday June 6, Saturday June 7 and Sunday June 8
Days 20, 21, 22 … I think. hey i think i have learned how to upload an image... cool
So Friday was a travel day to Wuhan, which is called the Furnace of China. We had to be downstairs at 10:00 am for a 10:30 departure for the airport (40 minutes) … get our bags loaded on the bus and almost left a late dancer at the hotel … she only managed to get on the bus by the grace of a red light. Maybe she will learn a lesson not to be late to travel call? Doubt it.
Anyway, it was pouring rain (like a cow on a flat rock as my dad would have said.) The travel to the airport was fairly straightforward except for loading and unloading in the rain. Then back through baggage check and security check and down to our departure gate. There was a stack of plastic rain ponchos there —not a good sign. Waited there for a while for our bus to the plane. As we waited it got wetter and wetter. Ugh. We were all getting soaked. Fortunately, the flight crew had fancy nibblies and lunch ready for us.
We ate ravenously, dried off (Kris brought be a BIG fluffy towel!) and proceeded to wait…. And wait…. And wait…. And wait some more … the storm was so big the airport was closed. We did not get underway until about 10:00 pm that night. We could have flown home in the time we waited on the plane! But we had dozens of movies, music, food and friends to hang out with. The plane did start to leak a little but Kathy, a flight attendant, said it was from the emergency doors not being hermetically shut, like when they are in flight. We pretty much trashed the plane. I think they were going to need a fire hose to clean it up! But I know it will be pristine for our next flight to Beijing.
Another note about China’s people’s job duties and rules….they are very odd… While we were waiting on the tarmac in the bus to get off and go up the stairs on to the plane I noticed that the airport ground crew were all in heavy rain gear – slickers and pants, the whole works. But this poor little gate attendant’s job is to stand under the plane and be ready to help anyone who might need it. So there she was in her regulation black pumps, white stockings, short black uniform skirt and white blouse and tiny rain poncho in the pouring rain. Why? Because that was her assigned job duty. Certainly seemed absurd at the time but I guess if that’s your job, you do it, no questions, no complaints. Hopefully, once we were all on the plane she got to go dry off. I sure hope so.
So it was now 12:00 pm and we had to get our baggage and be bused 30 minutes to the hotel in Wuhan. Once at the hotel I went straight to bed to sleep at about 2:00 am! I then had to be up early for 7:30 am bus to the theater on Saturday to load in for a matinee performance and an evening performance. Fortunately for me, these were NOT firebird performances so I got to spend the day and evening getting stuff ready. We were very concerned that all the stuff might have gotten wet in its travel from the airport to the theater. I went through every wig in my box to be sure nothing had gotten wet and was fortunate that only one wig was wet. I cleaned and dried and reset her and now my roadbox is clean and pretty. I am all ready for Monday now.
Sunday is to be a free day but of course since we lost time on Friday the deck crew had to work to get lights hung and focused for Monday’s performance. We have a performance scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, a free day on Wednesday and then we travel to Beijing. I slept in (all the way to 9:00 am) and mosey’d around the room and finally decided to go downstairs for some food. On the way I met up with Karen Gabay, one of our principal dancers, (and a super nice person at ALL times) who is traveling with her charming minx of a daughter, Kalena. We decided to have lunch together and another dancer, Peter, joined us as well. It was a fun meal. Karen and I decided to go to “the Wuhan Mall” and Raymond Rodriguez, another dancer and dance master (he runs the warm-ups and daily class among many other things) and we grabbed a cab for “the mall” … I am not sure if a mall is the same thing in China as we are used to because both places we went were more like a department store. Did some window shopping and we then stopped for a snack. (and oh, did I mention that it is raining like a cow on a flat rock?) It took us quite a while to snag a cab but now I’m back in my fairly decent room on the 26th floor (it has its own little balcony (about 4”x4’) which activates my fear of heights but is fun. I fully appreciate windows in hotel room now… even with the agoraphobia.
Well, as I said we have a show tomorrow so I am going to just chill-ax here in my room, then grab little dinner and cruise the internet. If you are reading this, feel free to drop me an email to let me know if you like it. randehar@hotmail.com.
Talk to you all again later
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Shenzhen and other thoughts
Monday June 2, 2008, Tuesday June 3, 2008, Wednesday June 4, 2008,Thursday June 5, 2008
Days 16, 17, 18 and 19?
So we packed up from Dongguan and took our trusty buses back to Shenzhen. The ride was interesting since (a) our bus driver didn’t know where he was going and (b) some of the freeway entrances aren’t finished yet. That was some trick driving the buses over what essentially was an empty lot. Anyway some of the highways are toll roads – heck, they may all be and I just didn’t notice. I took some pictures from the bus of the area but I still haven’t actually seen the sun for 3 weeks.. it is always either overcast or heavy smog, I can’t tell which. Oh, did I mention I have a fabulous 90 minute foot massage in Dongguan for only $7? It was great. She massaged my shoulders, back, arms, feet and calves. So relaxing and my feet had been hurting something horrible. Big relief I can tell you.
The driver got us to “our hotel” in ShenZhen only to find out it was the wrong place. We are staying at the Grand View Hotel …. However, what the grand view is, I have no idea because it is in the middle of a brand new area and all you can see are tall buildings and a new shopping mall. I have tried to insert a picture here. Hope it works.
Once we got our rooms – more like a bat cave – there are no windows in the rooms. I feel like I do in Las Vegas or Reno – can’t be sure what time it is or if it is day or night. This is very unsettling to all of us. Anyway, the room is small but exceedingly clean and tidy. The hotel is pretty new. Did I mention that all the hotels have this card slot where you have to put your hotel key card to turn on the lights and power? It is most annoying because in some of the hotels it is tied into the air conditioning as well … so if you leave your room, it gets hot and stuffy.
My hotel room in Dongguan was quite spacious and had a vaulted ceiling and a huge block of windows out overlooking the street. I really enjoyed watching the traffic. In Hongzhou my room was on the 22nd floor and if you could see out the window because of smog and such, the view is nice. At least I think so. They had a restaurant on the 34nd floor which revolved in the evenings. It would have had a lovely view if you could have seen anything out the windows.
Here in Shenzhen we loaded into the theater. The theater is only about 6 months old and the staff are extremely protective of it. It looks like an egg to me but the staff say it is referred to as “the pear.”
It is interesting that here in china every store and building has, oh about 3 times what you would encounter in the US. There are people whose jobs are just to stand by a doorway … did wal-mart get this idea from china or vice versa? Anyway, the clerks follow you about … I think I mentioned this already but if I did I have forgotten it – and either are there to help you or be sure you don’t take anything. Oh well … at the Shenzhen Poly Theater they are so protective that Les our SM had to sign a paper saying we wouldn’t damage anything. Now she laughs that she will either be jailed or caned if something goes wrong. And, of course, it did. Apparently the dressing room side lights are high intensity bulbs placed too close to the plastic shade and the lights melted right through the cover. Now what? The theater people said they would fix it right away.
We are “a big deal in China” (?) ….I don’t think so. The two performances so far have gone very well all things considered but sadly these are 1400 seat houses and not much audience. This kind of depresses the dancers but by the time we all get to the German-style (yes, german!) beer place we all shake it off with a few beers (white wine for me) and hanging out. I am generally the first to leave since I like to sleep but I understand several people routinely stay til closing. The crew has gotten on a first name basis with the staff there and Amy brings me just what I want … the rest of the servers can’t understand I just want a single glass of wine, not a bottle. Anyway, we have one more firebird tonight and then we load out and head to Wuhan. We have to travel back to the airport and we fly to Wuhan. Goody, back on our beautiful plane! The staff there think of everything. Its great.
Talk to you all soon.
Days 16, 17, 18 and 19?
So we packed up from Dongguan and took our trusty buses back to Shenzhen. The ride was interesting since (a) our bus driver didn’t know where he was going and (b) some of the freeway entrances aren’t finished yet. That was some trick driving the buses over what essentially was an empty lot. Anyway some of the highways are toll roads – heck, they may all be and I just didn’t notice. I took some pictures from the bus of the area but I still haven’t actually seen the sun for 3 weeks.. it is always either overcast or heavy smog, I can’t tell which. Oh, did I mention I have a fabulous 90 minute foot massage in Dongguan for only $7? It was great. She massaged my shoulders, back, arms, feet and calves. So relaxing and my feet had been hurting something horrible. Big relief I can tell you.
The driver got us to “our hotel” in ShenZhen only to find out it was the wrong place. We are staying at the Grand View Hotel …. However, what the grand view is, I have no idea because it is in the middle of a brand new area and all you can see are tall buildings and a new shopping mall. I have tried to insert a picture here. Hope it works.
Once we got our rooms – more like a bat cave – there are no windows in the rooms. I feel like I do in Las Vegas or Reno – can’t be sure what time it is or if it is day or night. This is very unsettling to all of us. Anyway, the room is small but exceedingly clean and tidy. The hotel is pretty new. Did I mention that all the hotels have this card slot where you have to put your hotel key card to turn on the lights and power? It is most annoying because in some of the hotels it is tied into the air conditioning as well … so if you leave your room, it gets hot and stuffy.
My hotel room in Dongguan was quite spacious and had a vaulted ceiling and a huge block of windows out overlooking the street. I really enjoyed watching the traffic. In Hongzhou my room was on the 22nd floor and if you could see out the window because of smog and such, the view is nice. At least I think so. They had a restaurant on the 34nd floor which revolved in the evenings. It would have had a lovely view if you could have seen anything out the windows.
Here in Shenzhen we loaded into the theater. The theater is only about 6 months old and the staff are extremely protective of it. It looks like an egg to me but the staff say it is referred to as “the pear.”
It is interesting that here in china every store and building has, oh about 3 times what you would encounter in the US. There are people whose jobs are just to stand by a doorway … did wal-mart get this idea from china or vice versa? Anyway, the clerks follow you about … I think I mentioned this already but if I did I have forgotten it – and either are there to help you or be sure you don’t take anything. Oh well … at the Shenzhen Poly Theater they are so protective that Les our SM had to sign a paper saying we wouldn’t damage anything. Now she laughs that she will either be jailed or caned if something goes wrong. And, of course, it did. Apparently the dressing room side lights are high intensity bulbs placed too close to the plastic shade and the lights melted right through the cover. Now what? The theater people said they would fix it right away.
We are “a big deal in China” (?) ….I don’t think so. The two performances so far have gone very well all things considered but sadly these are 1400 seat houses and not much audience. This kind of depresses the dancers but by the time we all get to the German-style (yes, german!) beer place we all shake it off with a few beers (white wine for me) and hanging out. I am generally the first to leave since I like to sleep but I understand several people routinely stay til closing. The crew has gotten on a first name basis with the staff there and Amy brings me just what I want … the rest of the servers can’t understand I just want a single glass of wine, not a bottle. Anyway, we have one more firebird tonight and then we load out and head to Wuhan. We have to travel back to the airport and we fly to Wuhan. Goody, back on our beautiful plane! The staff there think of everything. Its great.
Talk to you all soon.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Dongguan and other things...
Friday May 30, 2008, Saturday, May 31, 2008 and Sunday June 1, 2008
Days 13, 14 and 15
Things seem to be falling into a pattern as far as work. So, you ask, what exactly do I do? Well, at each city we get to the crew goes over to the theater to supervise and load-in all our roadboxes and equipment. Wardrobe (Maggie and Val), stage management (Les and Spencer) and I walk all around the theater examining all the dressing rooms in order to assign the rooms in a logical manner. Shanghai was difficult because all the rooms were spread out and Dennis assigned the upstairs “vip” dressing rooms to a lot of people. My room ended up at the bottom of a seriously long set of stairs that led to the stage. On one hand it was great that I was on the same level as wardrobe but it made for lots of trips up and down stairs. In spite of the stairs, I still think it was the best place for that particular theater. In the other 2 theaters there was enough room for me to be next door to Maximo and Karen – the 2 leads that I have to work on the fastest. Karen is the princess in Firebird and Max is the evil green guy, “The Immortal Kastchi” (at least I think that’s how its spelled). Fortunately, Ali and Maria (who switch off as Firebird) don’t dance in the first ballet (Firebird is always the second ballet) come to me at half hour for makeup and hair. When I’m lucky, if Karen isn’t dancing in the first ballet, she will come to me 10 minutes before Ali so I get 2 out of 3 done way ahead of time. Because Rudy and Ramon had passport problems they didn’t come and now Max has to dance in Serenade so he comes to me half way through that ballet. It started out that his makeup (which includes a bald pate, nose and chin appliance) took me 45 minutes….. last night I did it in 20. It really helps when Max puts on the green makeup too while I’m working on other parts of his face. Because it is so hot and humid here, it is difficult to get the glue to set on the appliances so I’m sort of always worried something might come off during the performance. Another minor worry among many. Once Max is done then I run (and I mean run!) to the girl’s dressing room(s) to check on my crew who are pinning and wigging the 8 captured maidens. The princess and maiden wigs are very beautiful and about 4 feet long so they take a special pin prep in order to keep them on. In addition they all have these wiry crowns with jewels on the ends which catch on anything they are near. Occasionally during the performance a maiden will get some of her hair caught in the crown (or even someone else’s hair!) and they end up with this mass of hair on their head. I call that “getting a hair bear”. Sometimes it will happen to Karen which makes her quick change for the happy ending a nightmare.
We have a couple of other dance programs which don’t include wigs so I don’t have anything do so for those shows except style Jing Zhang’s hair for the Introduction to Ballet item. This is a lecture and demonstration of the basics of ballet. Jing and Hao Bo (who are Chinese) stand at a podium and inform the audience about ballet. It is designed for school children and is followed by 2 short bits from Swan Lake and Nutcracker.
Yesterday we were scheduled for one but apparently there was a huge collision on the freeway and the bus of kids were going to be late – we held the curtain for 30 minutes, then had to cut the nutcracker and swan lake bits in order to keep to our work schedule. Apparently the bus never showed up. The coro girls were delighted – wardrobe was happy too since it meant not have to clean those costumes immediately. Let me just say a word about wardrobe – those ladies work tirelessly. So many bits and pieces to keep track of. The dancers are all really fun, nice people but sometimes I think its like herding cats to keep track of them and their stuff. Les also works pretty much 24/7. Amazing dedication and attention to detail.
So what do I do when not in a performance? Well, I sit in my hobbit hole (Bag End) and brush wigs …. And brush wigs….. and brush more wigs…. Each maiden wig can take up to 30 minutes to properly tidy, and that’s without taking it apart (God forbid!) but eventually I get through all of them to keep them clean, tidy and beautiful. I also spent an afternoon last week completely restoring the maiden crowns – some were missing jewels, some bent (they are made of wire) etc. The wigs have extensions on bias tape to make them longer and sometimes the tape will come loose and I have to sew it back together. There are also 2 “decrepit princess” wigs and assorted facial hair – which all needs to be checked, prepped and maintained. So once I get all the stuff ready for the performance, then I have to teach my crew how to pincurl, cap and wig the girls. This often takes hours. I have been extremely fortunate that so far all my girls have been smart, dedicated (sometimes too much so) and fun. They all happily correct my pronunciation and help me learn new words. I think they enjoy teaching me Chinese as much as anything. I am supposed to have 2 girls for each Firebird performance but “class” is such a hit with everyone that I seem to always have an audience of theater workers, other wardrobe people and anyone who walks by. In Hangzhou I was in sort of a main drag so everyone always had to stroll by for a look-see. I don’t mind generally but my brain does sort of shut down towards the end of the day. Once the girls learn the prep, then they are free to practice, practice, practice. I can’t seem to get across the concept that speed counts, not neatness. Oh well, so far we’ve made it but I do spend a few harried minutes in that fast change. The girls dance the first program, we have intermission (20 minutes) and they enter about 12 minutes into the Firebird – so we really have only about 30 minutes for all 8 (or sometimes 9 if Karen dances in the first ballet) to get it all done.
When we load out I have to pack my box as quick as I can because they like to put the wardrobe cases and mine on the first truck. Then we all help out rolling stuff to the trucks until the 2 trucks are locked and loaded. Then we party. We loaded out Dongguan last night and today is a real free day. We travel tomorrow back to Shenzen – which I believe is near Hong Kong for 3 performances.
All in all, I’m having a great time – lots to do, not much to see except the inside of a theater but walking over and back from the hotel is educational. The food in this hotel for breakfast, after the previous 2, is a disappointment so if you sit in the Starbucks next door, sooner or later you will see pretty much everyone of the company. We found a terrific Japanese restaurant (really more of a noodle house, kind of a blend of Japanese and Chinese) to eat at plus an old standby, McDonalds. I had their pork sandwich for dinner yesterday and it was really good.
We leave for city #4 tomorrow.
Days 13, 14 and 15
Things seem to be falling into a pattern as far as work. So, you ask, what exactly do I do? Well, at each city we get to the crew goes over to the theater to supervise and load-in all our roadboxes and equipment. Wardrobe (Maggie and Val), stage management (Les and Spencer) and I walk all around the theater examining all the dressing rooms in order to assign the rooms in a logical manner. Shanghai was difficult because all the rooms were spread out and Dennis assigned the upstairs “vip” dressing rooms to a lot of people. My room ended up at the bottom of a seriously long set of stairs that led to the stage. On one hand it was great that I was on the same level as wardrobe but it made for lots of trips up and down stairs. In spite of the stairs, I still think it was the best place for that particular theater. In the other 2 theaters there was enough room for me to be next door to Maximo and Karen – the 2 leads that I have to work on the fastest. Karen is the princess in Firebird and Max is the evil green guy, “The Immortal Kastchi” (at least I think that’s how its spelled). Fortunately, Ali and Maria (who switch off as Firebird) don’t dance in the first ballet (Firebird is always the second ballet) come to me at half hour for makeup and hair. When I’m lucky, if Karen isn’t dancing in the first ballet, she will come to me 10 minutes before Ali so I get 2 out of 3 done way ahead of time. Because Rudy and Ramon had passport problems they didn’t come and now Max has to dance in Serenade so he comes to me half way through that ballet. It started out that his makeup (which includes a bald pate, nose and chin appliance) took me 45 minutes….. last night I did it in 20. It really helps when Max puts on the green makeup too while I’m working on other parts of his face. Because it is so hot and humid here, it is difficult to get the glue to set on the appliances so I’m sort of always worried something might come off during the performance. Another minor worry among many. Once Max is done then I run (and I mean run!) to the girl’s dressing room(s) to check on my crew who are pinning and wigging the 8 captured maidens. The princess and maiden wigs are very beautiful and about 4 feet long so they take a special pin prep in order to keep them on. In addition they all have these wiry crowns with jewels on the ends which catch on anything they are near. Occasionally during the performance a maiden will get some of her hair caught in the crown (or even someone else’s hair!) and they end up with this mass of hair on their head. I call that “getting a hair bear”. Sometimes it will happen to Karen which makes her quick change for the happy ending a nightmare.
We have a couple of other dance programs which don’t include wigs so I don’t have anything do so for those shows except style Jing Zhang’s hair for the Introduction to Ballet item. This is a lecture and demonstration of the basics of ballet. Jing and Hao Bo (who are Chinese) stand at a podium and inform the audience about ballet. It is designed for school children and is followed by 2 short bits from Swan Lake and Nutcracker.
Yesterday we were scheduled for one but apparently there was a huge collision on the freeway and the bus of kids were going to be late – we held the curtain for 30 minutes, then had to cut the nutcracker and swan lake bits in order to keep to our work schedule. Apparently the bus never showed up. The coro girls were delighted – wardrobe was happy too since it meant not have to clean those costumes immediately. Let me just say a word about wardrobe – those ladies work tirelessly. So many bits and pieces to keep track of. The dancers are all really fun, nice people but sometimes I think its like herding cats to keep track of them and their stuff. Les also works pretty much 24/7. Amazing dedication and attention to detail.
So what do I do when not in a performance? Well, I sit in my hobbit hole (Bag End) and brush wigs …. And brush wigs….. and brush more wigs…. Each maiden wig can take up to 30 minutes to properly tidy, and that’s without taking it apart (God forbid!) but eventually I get through all of them to keep them clean, tidy and beautiful. I also spent an afternoon last week completely restoring the maiden crowns – some were missing jewels, some bent (they are made of wire) etc. The wigs have extensions on bias tape to make them longer and sometimes the tape will come loose and I have to sew it back together. There are also 2 “decrepit princess” wigs and assorted facial hair – which all needs to be checked, prepped and maintained. So once I get all the stuff ready for the performance, then I have to teach my crew how to pincurl, cap and wig the girls. This often takes hours. I have been extremely fortunate that so far all my girls have been smart, dedicated (sometimes too much so) and fun. They all happily correct my pronunciation and help me learn new words. I think they enjoy teaching me Chinese as much as anything. I am supposed to have 2 girls for each Firebird performance but “class” is such a hit with everyone that I seem to always have an audience of theater workers, other wardrobe people and anyone who walks by. In Hangzhou I was in sort of a main drag so everyone always had to stroll by for a look-see. I don’t mind generally but my brain does sort of shut down towards the end of the day. Once the girls learn the prep, then they are free to practice, practice, practice. I can’t seem to get across the concept that speed counts, not neatness. Oh well, so far we’ve made it but I do spend a few harried minutes in that fast change. The girls dance the first program, we have intermission (20 minutes) and they enter about 12 minutes into the Firebird – so we really have only about 30 minutes for all 8 (or sometimes 9 if Karen dances in the first ballet) to get it all done.
When we load out I have to pack my box as quick as I can because they like to put the wardrobe cases and mine on the first truck. Then we all help out rolling stuff to the trucks until the 2 trucks are locked and loaded. Then we party. We loaded out Dongguan last night and today is a real free day. We travel tomorrow back to Shenzen – which I believe is near Hong Kong for 3 performances.
All in all, I’m having a great time – lots to do, not much to see except the inside of a theater but walking over and back from the hotel is educational. The food in this hotel for breakfast, after the previous 2, is a disappointment so if you sit in the Starbucks next door, sooner or later you will see pretty much everyone of the company. We found a terrific Japanese restaurant (really more of a noodle house, kind of a blend of Japanese and Chinese) to eat at plus an old standby, McDonalds. I had their pork sandwich for dinner yesterday and it was really good.
We leave for city #4 tomorrow.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tuesday May 27
Day 10
Sunday (sat for you) we drove to Hangzhou and immediately went to the theater to load-in. We worked til midnight and slept. Yesterday I spent the day teaching my Chinese girls how to pincurl. They learned well but I think they ultimately got bored with the project. They certainly were willing to leave when we were done. The show went pretty well. It is so humid and Max has to dance prior to Firebird so trying to get his appliances on and made up in 5 minutes was a joke, but it went ok this time. Got all the girls done on time and the show went pretty well.
We came back to the hotel and had a party in one room, got in trouble and moved the party down the hall. I finally left around 2:45 but I understand it didn't end until 5. kinda crazy -- very "kids on spring break" but no bad stuff.
I slept in and finally got up around noon and decided to have an adventure. While I was at the concierge desk Carol, our electrician came over and I invited her to join me. She and I taxied into the downtown area. (The hotel is on the outskirts of town where lots of new building is going on) and we walked around. The downtown stores could have been valley fair except there are tons of clerks who stand and watch you every second… not necessarily to assume you might be shoplifting but to be able to assist you in any way... very unusual. We took a taxi to what was supposed to be the silk museum but it turned out to be a silk store and we walked around that area which was a financial district. We wandered into a hotel which I think was run by a German company for directions. They helped us find the museum on the map and it was close to the city zoo. Carol and I decided to go to the zoo instead to see the panda bear. it is a pretty zoo but a lot was empty and it seemed very old. However, we had fun wandering around. Once finished we spent some time trying to get a taxi back to town. The driver didn't know where our hotel was (I had brought a map in Chinese but it didn't help) so we had him take us back to the Goethe hotel and then we were going to take another taxi back to the Tianyuan hotel. At the hotel the guy told us it was taxi shift change and we should wait for a while. We went to the lobby bar, had ice teas and talked and talked. Btw, the taxi back from the zoo made Mr. toad's wild ride look tame! When we left the hotel it was thundering and storming. I am now back in my room watching the lightening over the city. I’m on the 22nd floor.
We leave tomorrow to bus back to the shanghai airport for our flight to dongguan. Hopefully, I’m going out to dinner now, since neither carol nor I really stopped for lunch -- missed breakfast too for that matter. All in all it was a nice day.
Wednesday, May 28
Day 11
Well, up early to load the bus to go back to Shanghai Airport – about 3 hours. Fortunately, we have 3 buses so no one is crowded. Got to the airport and while I thought we would just go to the plane, no, had to go through airport security and baggage check. We got back on our beautiful plane with Maria as the Firebird on the tail and Karen and Rudy on the other side. The flight crew was waiting with apple and chocolate martinis, champage, well, you name it – and lunch. We thought we’d take off right away but because of the earthquake there are earthquake dams which may break and they needed the runways for emergency planes. We wait about an hour and finally took off for a 2 hour flight to Shen Yuen. We got to Shen Yuen and got our baggage and jumped onto buses for Dongguan. Another 2 hours. Finally got to the hotel and it is s very Chinese hotel – incense and décor – pretty nice actually. My bathroom has both a tub and a huge shower stall. We have been told that this location is the most risky and that we should travel in groups but the hotel is only about 5 minutes from the theater and it is s very busy part of town. So far I have eaten Pizza Hut twice, had McDonald’s last night (only thing open at 11:00 pm) and 2 Japanese restaurants. Had Chinese food in the theater canteens and it was very cafeteria food – plenty of it but pretty bland. The western economic influence is enormous. The Chinese people are extremely kind, willing and smart. Went to sleep and am getting used to the hard beds… finally. Certainly love the cotton duvets to sleep under, light and warm.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Day 12
Got up early to get over to the theater to start my maintenance on the 9 wigs. Pretty much have spent day getting the girls thoroughly tidied up. They are staying pretty nice, its just that 3 ft of wig takes a lot of brushing to keep up. Les and I had lunch in a very nice Japanese restaurant and I’m back at the theatre finishing up stuff. Our work visas are only good for a short time so we have to have our picture taken again for another visa. More details and rules & regs. The logistics of this trip are a nightmare. So much to think about. Getting people, baggage, sets and costumes from place to place takes a huge effort on everyone’s part. It is really amazing. The city of Dongguan looks like all the cities so far – lots of 1960s buildings, and most in need of repair. The air quality is horrible. I am always sweaty and steaming. I feel like I’m in a steambath 24/7. We had a thunder shower this morning and that reduced the humidity for a while. The hotel air conditioning only works when you have your room key in a special device that activates the electrical to the room. I think they turn off the air conditioning when the building is not in use because it was awful last night but now is s comfortable level. Carol is my “goddess of the day” because she went and got me not 1 but 2 small fans for my room to help Max dry off for the green makeup. I pay homage to “she-who-must-be-obeyed” on all things electrical.
Day 10
Sunday (sat for you) we drove to Hangzhou and immediately went to the theater to load-in. We worked til midnight and slept. Yesterday I spent the day teaching my Chinese girls how to pincurl. They learned well but I think they ultimately got bored with the project. They certainly were willing to leave when we were done. The show went pretty well. It is so humid and Max has to dance prior to Firebird so trying to get his appliances on and made up in 5 minutes was a joke, but it went ok this time. Got all the girls done on time and the show went pretty well.
We came back to the hotel and had a party in one room, got in trouble and moved the party down the hall. I finally left around 2:45 but I understand it didn't end until 5. kinda crazy -- very "kids on spring break" but no bad stuff.
I slept in and finally got up around noon and decided to have an adventure. While I was at the concierge desk Carol, our electrician came over and I invited her to join me. She and I taxied into the downtown area. (The hotel is on the outskirts of town where lots of new building is going on) and we walked around. The downtown stores could have been valley fair except there are tons of clerks who stand and watch you every second… not necessarily to assume you might be shoplifting but to be able to assist you in any way... very unusual. We took a taxi to what was supposed to be the silk museum but it turned out to be a silk store and we walked around that area which was a financial district. We wandered into a hotel which I think was run by a German company for directions. They helped us find the museum on the map and it was close to the city zoo. Carol and I decided to go to the zoo instead to see the panda bear. it is a pretty zoo but a lot was empty and it seemed very old. However, we had fun wandering around. Once finished we spent some time trying to get a taxi back to town. The driver didn't know where our hotel was (I had brought a map in Chinese but it didn't help) so we had him take us back to the Goethe hotel and then we were going to take another taxi back to the Tianyuan hotel. At the hotel the guy told us it was taxi shift change and we should wait for a while. We went to the lobby bar, had ice teas and talked and talked. Btw, the taxi back from the zoo made Mr. toad's wild ride look tame! When we left the hotel it was thundering and storming. I am now back in my room watching the lightening over the city. I’m on the 22nd floor.
We leave tomorrow to bus back to the shanghai airport for our flight to dongguan. Hopefully, I’m going out to dinner now, since neither carol nor I really stopped for lunch -- missed breakfast too for that matter. All in all it was a nice day.
Wednesday, May 28
Day 11
Well, up early to load the bus to go back to Shanghai Airport – about 3 hours. Fortunately, we have 3 buses so no one is crowded. Got to the airport and while I thought we would just go to the plane, no, had to go through airport security and baggage check. We got back on our beautiful plane with Maria as the Firebird on the tail and Karen and Rudy on the other side. The flight crew was waiting with apple and chocolate martinis, champage, well, you name it – and lunch. We thought we’d take off right away but because of the earthquake there are earthquake dams which may break and they needed the runways for emergency planes. We wait about an hour and finally took off for a 2 hour flight to Shen Yuen. We got to Shen Yuen and got our baggage and jumped onto buses for Dongguan. Another 2 hours. Finally got to the hotel and it is s very Chinese hotel – incense and décor – pretty nice actually. My bathroom has both a tub and a huge shower stall. We have been told that this location is the most risky and that we should travel in groups but the hotel is only about 5 minutes from the theater and it is s very busy part of town. So far I have eaten Pizza Hut twice, had McDonald’s last night (only thing open at 11:00 pm) and 2 Japanese restaurants. Had Chinese food in the theater canteens and it was very cafeteria food – plenty of it but pretty bland. The western economic influence is enormous. The Chinese people are extremely kind, willing and smart. Went to sleep and am getting used to the hard beds… finally. Certainly love the cotton duvets to sleep under, light and warm.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Day 12
Got up early to get over to the theater to start my maintenance on the 9 wigs. Pretty much have spent day getting the girls thoroughly tidied up. They are staying pretty nice, its just that 3 ft of wig takes a lot of brushing to keep up. Les and I had lunch in a very nice Japanese restaurant and I’m back at the theatre finishing up stuff. Our work visas are only good for a short time so we have to have our picture taken again for another visa. More details and rules & regs. The logistics of this trip are a nightmare. So much to think about. Getting people, baggage, sets and costumes from place to place takes a huge effort on everyone’s part. It is really amazing. The city of Dongguan looks like all the cities so far – lots of 1960s buildings, and most in need of repair. The air quality is horrible. I am always sweaty and steaming. I feel like I’m in a steambath 24/7. We had a thunder shower this morning and that reduced the humidity for a while. The hotel air conditioning only works when you have your room key in a special device that activates the electrical to the room. I think they turn off the air conditioning when the building is not in use because it was awful last night but now is s comfortable level. Carol is my “goddess of the day” because she went and got me not 1 but 2 small fans for my room to help Max dry off for the green makeup. I pay homage to “she-who-must-be-obeyed” on all things electrical.
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